Ran-Man Out of The MIX

[P-Town]

Randy "The Ran Man" Turner just got ran out of town as PD and afternoon drive host on Cumulus' MIX 97

 

[hv4everandever]

> Randy "The Ran Man" Turner just got ran out of town as PD
> and afternoon drive host on Cumulus' MIX 97
>
Whether you liked Randy Turner or not, you have to give him credit for lasting as long as he did under the ever schizophrenic cloud of Cumulus Media. First they kept 97.7 as Oldies, then changed it to Mix and it wasn't bad at first. Then they changed it to the same boring beat you over the head 'listen at work' with Elton john, Celine Dion, Billy Joel stuff that gets played to death on Tucker Drive. How many times can you listen to 'Piano Man' while at work? The only creative control they reluctantly gave him was weekends and Mix usually sounded pretty good on weekends. And the whole Christmas disaster came from Cumulus Stooges, not Turner. Look at what they've done with 94.3...That was Cool 94.3 then Kicks now the Wolf. That will be due for a change in about 6 months.

As we all know Benfer knows nothing about Programming and he looks out just for himself and has proven he shows no loyalty to anyone (remember what he did to Coop & Mikey). Turner has gone to bat against Cumulus to save many a jobs that are still there on Pendell Road. Had he been the 'Yes Man' puppet that Cumulus really wanted, Bob Miller and Brian Jones would have been shown the door a long time ago along with many of the $7 an hour part-timers. Cumulus wants 'live and local' but apparently what they really want is cheap and available.

Cumulus will inevitably continue to run Mix into the ground. Only now they'll have to blame someone else. If I was Bob Miller & Suzy Garcia, I'd get my tapes and resumes ready. Get as much stuff out of your offices now, so when you get the 'Chuck needs to see you' meeting, it can be done quickly and without much fanfare. And there really isn't anyone else to blame except for the Three Stooges.

So once the Mix horse has been beat just enough, they'll relaunch it as something else...Magic 97 or Sunny 97 or something cookie cutter, bring in a low paid PD who will be their new 'Yes man' and this will happen all over again.

It's been said before, but there must really be something in the water over at Pendell Road.

 

[ftoink]

hard to do good radio when everybodys on the shortleash, randy, jocks too

 

[mart]

> Randy "The Ran Man" Turner just got ran out of town as PD
> and afternoon drive host on Cumulus' MIX 97
>

that's too bad...i think he's been PD there for over 10 years. He sounded good on the PM Drive,I hope he resurfaces soon.

 

[radiolover78]

> Randy "The Ran Man" Turner just got ran out of town as PD
> and afternoon drive host on Cumulus' MIX 97
>

Stinks for Mix 97, he was one of their best jocks.

 

[NoWayJose]

Missed the Good News

I missed the good news while I was away at school! That's what I get for not checking in on the board as often as I should.

To Randy Turner I say, "Good riddance, Rain Man." In the world of bosses, Randy was THE biggest of YES men at Pendell Road except when he needed to keep his onions out of the fire. Randy ran a good oldies station, but any clown with a collection of scratchy 45's and tens of thousands of dollars in research could have done the same.

Turner hung onto people like Miller, Bob Reynolds and Beth Christy to make his life easier, and he threw away people like Rick McCaffrey when they had used up their usefulness. He'd curse out Miller and Christy up and down the hallways when they were out of earshot, but he kept them because they were stupid enough to work for the money that Pendell Road paid. People like the untalented Kimberly Kay hit the pavement on their can only when they started screaming for more money (or when their Shopping Mall Wedding landed in divorce court). Turner could not bear the idea of having to train new people, so he kept the dead weight. He had no people skills and less patience for helping someone along.

Chuck Benfer may not be the nicest or smartest guy on the planet (he isn't), but Turner got his way ... the Mix 97 concept was Turner's idea because he was sick of all the old listeners and the music. He wanted to go current. Mix 97 only did well as long as it did because the people who listen to radio are lazy. As soon as the leftovers from Oldies 97 discovered Sirius, XM, iPod and all the other better forms of music technology, they were gone. And so was Turner's job.

So, as the memories of Rain Man float down the Hudson, maybe he will remember all the backs he climbed over to get to the top ... and he can only be mad at himself when they weren't there for him to clutch onto as he was going down. Au revoir, Rain Man.

 

[Markd]

THE STORIES CONFLICT!!

> Whether you liked Randy Turner or not, you have to give him
> credit for lasting as long as he did under the ever
> schizophrenic cloud of Cumulus Media.

I worked there part time for a year from 1998-99 and I had no problem with Randy. He was also not program director back then. Still thogh he was a decent guy from what I saw.
First they kept 97.7

> as Oldies, then changed it to Mix and it wasn't bad at
> first. Then they changed it to the same boring beat you over
> the head 'listen at work' with Elton john, Celine Dion,
> Billy Joel stuff that gets played to death on Tucker Drive.
> How many times can you listen to 'Piano Man' while at work?

They indeed did not change suddenly but gradually. In fact they began to evolve uder Aurora Broadcasting very early in 2002. Still they are more gold based and uptempo than most AC stations.

> The only creative control they reluctantly gave him was
> weekends and Mix usually sounded pretty good on weekends.

Could be. Still he probably did what he was told in terms of decisions.

> And the whole Christmas disaster came from Cumulus Stooges,
> not Turner.

My guess was it ws a decisiion either made by Chuck or even higher up.

> Look at what they've done with 94.3...That was
> Cool 94.3 then Kicks now the Wolf. That will be due for a
> change in about 6 months.

Kool 94.3 actually was growing in the ratings. The station was only under Cumulus for 10 months and launched at the end of 2002. Why it did not stay around longer??? Ratings actually climbed. They were just below the Top 10. Plus the format could only grow from the former Oldies 97 listeners.

Kicks FAILED MISERABLY!!! RATINGS WERE barely a ONE SHARE. I hate Country anyway but if I were a Country Music Fan IO would not be listening to Kicks. I would listen to WRWD. Now Though I hate Country I would love to see a Country station in New York City. They need it more than Pughkeepsie and Kingston.
With the lowsy ratings I would have dropped this country format long ago.
But instead of putting this station out of its misery they give this station another shot adding 97.3 to the format. BAD DECIISION. They should return 94.3 to Oldies.

> As we all know Benfer knows nothing about Programming and he
> looks out just for himself and has proven he shows no
> loyalty to anyone (remember what he did to Coop & Mikey).

I never met Chuck or even talked to him so I cannot judge his knowledge of programming. Still had Cumulus kept Mike Harris and Scott Carlin all of these stations would probably still be in their former formats. Ratings would probably be a bit higher. Or at least Kool would still be playing Oldies...or would Mix still be. There is a possability that had Harris remained that 94.3 would have never been added to the group of stations and be run by some other company. I can say Mike Harris was a tough person but he knew his stuff. He knew how to win. That is why Clear Channel does not own leading stations today.

> Turner has gone to bat against Cumulus to save many a jobs
> that are still there on Pendell Road. Had he been the 'Yes
> Man' puppet that Cumulus really wanted, Bob Miller and Brian
> Jones would have been shown the door a long time ago along
> with many of the $7 an hour part-timers. Cumulus wants 'live
> and local' but apparently what they really want is cheap and
> available.

The post below says something different. Which is it

> Cumulus will inevitably continue to run Mix into the ground.
> Only now they'll have to blame someone else. If I was Bob
> Miller & Suzy Garcia, I'd get my tapes and resumes ready.
> Get as much stuff out of your offices now, so when you get
> the 'Chuck needs to see you' meeting, it can be done quickly
> and without much fanfare. And there really isn't anyone else
> to blame except for the Three Stooges.

Actually Garcia was hired under Cumulus so its likely she will be around for a while. As for Miller...as long as ratings are good he probably will be around a long time.

 

[Markd]

THIS POST CONFLICTS WITH A POST BELOW

> To Randy Turner I say, "Good riddance, Rain Man." In the
> world of bosses, Randy was THE biggest of YES men at Pendell
> Road except when he needed to keep his onions out of the
> fire. Randy ran a good oldies station, but any clown with a
> collection of scratchy 45's and tens of thousands of dollars
> in research could have done the same.

Why such a hate for Randy? Did he turn you down for a gig? Did you work there and he not use you where you wanted to be? It sounds like you have an ax to grind.

> Turner hung onto people like Miller, Bob Reynolds and Beth
> Christy to make his life easier,

These are good people. Why not keep them around. They have gotten great ratings for Mix and Oldies 97. Who would not want to hang on to a good thing?

>and he threw away people like Rick McCaffrey when they had used up their >usefulness.

HE DID NOT THROW AWAY RICK...HIGHER UPS DID!!! You really think that a Program Director has the authority to make an abrupt format change from Oldies to Country? A PD may have the authority to hire a person here and there, decide how many songs to play, What songs to play, have a role in imaging the station...But a format change or a high profile hiring is done from higher up. In the old days Mike Harris and Scott Carlin played a major role in decision making. The stations back then were run only on a local lever because owners were local. But under a company like Cumulus many decisions are made above station level. A format change and decisions of who stays and who goes are done on the GM level and high profile shows are determined by people on regional corporate level. So the decision to shut Kool 94.3 down and sign on Kicks came from someone much higher than Randy.

> He'd curse out Miller and Christy up and down the hallways
> when they were out of earshot, but he kept them because they
> were stupid enough to work for the money that Pendell Road
> paid.

I dont know Randy well so I dont know this. On the other hand all people have their moments. Sometimes even people who are friends have their differences. And keeping them was not his call. A morning show decision is usually determined higher than a PD level at most small market stations. Even in the old days when an individual owned a station and was the GM...in such a situation the owner played most of the role in who worked there.

> Turner could not bear the idea of having to
> train new people, so he kept the dead weight. He had no
> people skills and less patience for helping someone along.

He hired quite a few part-timers over the years. Very few full timers had been added over the years.

> Chuck Benfer may not be the nicest or smartest guy on the
> planet (he isn't), but Turner got his way ... the Mix 97
> concept was Turner's idea because he was sick of all the old
> listeners and the music. He wanted to go current. Mix 97
> only did well as long as it did because the people who
> listen to radio are lazy. As soon as the leftovers from
> Oldies 97 discovered Sirius, XM, iPod and all the other
> better forms of music technology, they were gone. And so was
> Turner's job.

Randy Turner did not make the decision to evolve the station. This came from a mandate from higher up.

Still another post says the opposite about Randy Turner.

My take on this is it was a Corporate decision coming from The GM as were other decisions made at these stations (WPDH becoming Rock from Classic, WEOK/WALL dropping ESPN for Rumba, Torro, Ritmo or WHATEVER THEY CALLED IT, Then dropping that Spanish stuff for radio Disney). A Program director plays little role in the direction of a station these days.

These are Different Times today---